Ocean Group not out of trouble yet

January 12, 2018 | 15:25
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Over the past three years, especially after the lending fraud scandal of Ocean Bank’s former chairman in late 2014, the business performance of multi-sector Ocean Group (HSX:OGC) was lacklustre despite signs of recovery shown over the first nine months of 2017.

Specifically, over the first three quarters of 2017, the multi-sector firm reported a total after-tax loss of VND226.7 billion ($9.92 million) which was nearly half of the VND468 billion ($20.49 million) in the same period in 2016.

During the first nine months of 2017, the firm’s collective sales and service-based revenue mounted to VND900 billion ($39.42 million), which was roughly 9 per cent up against the same category in 2016. To add, the firm saw a meagre rally in gross profit, with a respective VND371billion ($16.2 million) and VND420 billion ($18.3 million) in the first three quarters of 2016 and 2017.

By the end of September 2017, OGC's accumulated loss reached VND2.742 trillion ($120 million), followed by the threat of delisting from the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, the company’s total liabilities mounted up to VND4.938 trillion ($217.45 million) which was equivalent to 84 per cent of its total assets.

Ocean Group is seen as a 'business failure' by other investors

Additionally, as presented in the firm’s consolidated financial statement for the third quarter in 2017, OGC scored a net revenue of VND479.74 billion, up 14 per cent against the same period in 2016. Besides, the firms’ cost of goods sold (COGS) touched VND223.74 billion ($98.2 million), 21 per cent up, resulting in a modest gross profit totalling VND252 billion ($11.06 million), merely 8 per cent up against the third quarter in 2016.

Ocean Group, is a Hanoi-headquartered multi-sector firm which concentrates on various fields, such as financial investment, build-operate-transfer (BOT) investment, as well as hotel and real estate services. The firm’s total charter capital is VND3 trillion ($133.5 million), with its ticker fetching VND2,410 ($0.11) on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange.

Ocean Commercial One Member Limited Liability Bank, or Ocean Bank, is a Vietnam-based commercial bank that was previously bought out by the State Bank for zero VND. Prior to the lending fraud scandal in 2014, Ocean Group held 20 per cent stake at the commercial bank.

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By By Chi Tin

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